The curse of knowledge can damage awareness programmes: Here's how to defeat it

Kerry Tomlinson
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Kerry Tomlinson: Cyber News Reporter and Editor-in-Chief, Ampere News, USA

Cyber Security: A Peer-Reviewed Journal, 2023, vol. 6, issue 4, 311-319

Abstract: Now, more than ever, cybersecurity professionals need their messages of security to reach the people who work for their organisations. But a phenomenon known as the ‘curse of knowledge’ may be standing in their way. This ‘curse’ – knowing so much about a subject that explaining it to beginners is difficult – plagues many human risk programmes, according to industry reports, and can actually damage programmes and negatively affect the credibility of those who run them. This paper shows how cybersecurity practitioners can overcome the curse of knowledge by examining its destructive path and identifying key steps to manage it. Techniques like removing certain terminology from cybersecurity messaging and tools like the De-Jargonizer can bring practitioners in line with their audience and lead to successful programmes and more security for organisations.

Keywords: human risk; cybersecurity awareness; awareness programme; terminology; cybersecurity messaging (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aza:csj000:y:2023:v:6:i:4:p:311-319

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